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Archive for the category “Archives”

Where to begin with all my news…Well, I’ve moved house, I suppose that is a good start! I am now a lot closer to my main place of work in the Stratford archives and I absolutely love the people I live with. The house is amazing, so beautiful and welcoming. They are mad about the Arts too, which means lots of singing and acting! I feel incredibly happy and everything is moving forward.

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On Friday the 12th of October I finally got round to visiting the Shakespeare Museum, Library and Archive Collections who had kindly provided me with lots of information on Anglo-Saxon archaeology digs across Warwickshire, specifically the ones at Bidford and Alveston. I also had a read of the Wasperton dig too as there was an amazing book in the reading room about it.

Here is a map to show the distribution of pagan Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in the Avon valley where the archaeology digs took place. By contrast with the sparse, peripheral Anglo-Saxon archaeology of Staffordshire, that of Warwickshire shows the valley of the Avon in the southern half of the county, to have been an important focus of pagan burial practices. Map from ‘The West Midlands in the Early Middle Ages’ by Gelling, M. (1992):

The collection is situated right by where I work, at the Shakespeare Centre itself, and looks after the largest collection of Shakespeare related materials in the UK. Their collection includes rare manuscripts, books, photographs, artefacts and works of art. One of their great treasures is the First Folio which is believed to have belonged to Shakespeare. Obviously the collection isn’t all about Shakespeare though- it is a local history archive too with records dating back to the 12th C- hence why they have archaeology records and artefacts…with items like this beauty…

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So, as you might have realised, I’ve been away from blogging for a while. I’ve got a very good reason for this, I promise! This week I started working at another place (yes, as you have probably guessed by now, I work at numerous places and for numerous people) which I have devoted myself to for the past few days. And here is where it is…

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Another day, another tour, but this time I went to Worcester to see the fantastic new library- The Hive. Now I have heard plenty of good things about this place, but have never actually had the chance to see it for myself…until now! Upon first glance, the architecture of the new building really stands out. I was overwhelmed at first, as it veered up at me as I walked around the corner. I was overwhelmed in a good way of course!

Worcestershire County Council and the University of Worcester have worked together to create a new city centre library, history and customer centre for students and also the public. Both the old Public Library and the University Library were outgrowing their premises, and modernisation was needed. After 9 years of planning what has been created is this new combined facility for the whole community to use, drawing people together. The Hive was opened to the public in July of this year, and the students will be coming to Worcester University very soon, so it will be great to see what they make of it!

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To finish the amazing Heritage Week tour at Wolverhampton, I was lucky enough to view the Wolverhampton Archives which are housed at the beautiful Molineux Hotel, a building steeped in its own grand history. The tour was delivered by Heidi McIntosh, the City Archivist.